Our Present Trustees

Cliff Barton

I was born and grew up in Liverpool and have lived most of my life in the city. I became a Christian as a student. My first visit to Kenya was as a secondary school teacher. A few years later I visited Keith and Priscilla Underhill during a return trip not long after they had established a church in their house in Nairobi. We subsequently kept in touch and would often meet when they were making a visit back in UK. It was on one of these trips that we made arrangements for me to revisit Kenya and to join Keith on a trip to Pokot. After that I made several more of these trips at roughly 2-year intervals.
It was on one of the early trips that we discussed the possibility of setting up a charity to support the work while Keith was still in Nairobi, and for the continued financial support of the work after his retirement. It has been so encouraging to see the fruit of Keith’s labours and the establishment of new churches, particularly in the isolated and poor area of the Pokot region which is an area much supported by this charity.

Geoff Thomas

I was pastor of a church in Aberystwyth in Wales for over fifty years and I visited Kenya many times.

In 1963, my final year at Westminster Seminary, Philadelphia I asked a Kenyan fellow student, Leonard Kaguru Guchu of Thika, a Kikuyu, to be my room mate. I had the lower bunk!

We remained in contact and when Keith Underhill went to Kenya he began by working with Leonard in Thika.

I visited Kenya preaching and teaching many times: now in my late 80s I have retired from fifty years of preaching in Wales, but still am vitally interested in the church of Jesus Christ in East Africa.

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Keith Underhill

I am married to Priscilla, and the Lord has blessed us with 3 grown-up children, and 5 grandchildren. We have been living in Liverpool, UK, since 2015.  Since that time, we have been active members in Belvidere Road Church, Liverpool.  Previously I served as a minister of the gospel in Kenya for 40 years, along with my family, from 1975 to 2015.

I was a Secondary School teacher in Kenya, 1968-1970.  I returned to serve the Lord in Kenya 1975-2015, first in Bible Fellowship Church in Thika (1975-1977), then in planting and leading Trinity Baptist Church in Nairobi. 

I have been a trustee of TRAIN(Kenya) from 2016, after relocation from Kenya to UK.

Oliver Allmand-Smith

I grew up as the youngest of six, and although we enjoyed many blessings as a family my childhood was rather troubled, especially after my 17-year-old brother was killed on a motorbike when I was only 10. I knew the message of the gospel, but I had no peace because my heart was not right with God. However, when I reached the age of 17 myself, God showed me mercy and gave me a new heart – I was re-born as a child of God knowing forgiveness of sins and peace with Him.

After university, I began working in industry as part of a family engineering company that has been continually trading in Macclesfield since 1810. In 1995 I married Alison, and after some years of preparation, we were called to the pastorate of Trinity Grace Church in Ramsbottom in 1998. God has blessed us with six children, and we have made Ramsbottom our home, even though I continue to travel to Macclesfield to oversee the business. The Lord has blessed the church over the years with growth in spiritual maturity, doctrinal understanding and physical numbers.

I first met Keith Underhill in 2005, and visited Kenya in 2006. After that time I have made many visits to the country, along with other African nations. It has been my privilege to preach to unreached people, teach pastors and encourage churches across Kenya over these past two decades.

Alan Wigley

I am a Chartered Accountant with 30+ years experience of working with businesses in various industries, and experience of conducting Independent Examinations on the accounts of a number of charities. Brought to faith by the mercy of the Lord in my teens, I have been a longstanding member of Maidenbower Baptist Church in London.
Maidenbower Baptist Church has taken a keen interest in the work of the gospel in Kenya over several decades, supporting in prayer and practical matters, with the work of TRAIN (Kenya) becoming the increasing focus of support in recent years, and it was a natural outflow of that support to be able to join the Trustees and help the work continue, God willing, for decades more.

Eunice Oluwasakin

I am a member of Trinty Grace Church in Ramsbottom, a confessional Reformed Baptist church, where I’ve been richly blessed by the faithful gospel preaching and a loving church family. I thank God for bringing me to faith at a young age and for the blessing of growing up in a loving Christian home.

Over the course of living in different African countries and now in the United Kingdom, I’ve also witnessed the influence and damaging effects of the false, works-based and prosperity-driven gospel, which distorted the truth of Scripture, leading many away from the true gospel. These experiences have given me a deep appreciation for sound doctrine, faithful leadership and the importance of a church that is governed according to God’s Word.

The mission of Train (Kenya) resonates deeply with me. Their work in supporting churches and schools in remote regions like Pokot North & Rendille is a powerful expression of gospel-driven compassion. I am especially encouraged by their commitment to training pastors and strengthening local churches – ensuring that the gospel is not only proclaimed but lived out in community.

Having seen firsthand the confusion and harm caused by false teaching, I understand the vital importance of faithful ministry, sound doctrine, and long-term discipleship especially from a confessional perspective. It would be a joy and privilege to support TRAIN’s work and be part of what God is doing through them in Kenya.

 

 

David Smalley

I have just moved to Holt, Wiltshire with my wife, Linda, from the East Riding of Yorkshire. We have four grown up children. I was converted as a student in Aberystwyth.
I got to know of Keith and the work in Kenya through Alfred Place Baptist Church, Aberystwyth, and have kept in contact with him over the years, and then visited TBC Nairobi in November 2022 with Oliver.

Original Trustees

The original trustees